Paso Robles gas station robber surrenders in Fresno

November 27, 2012

Charles Donald Wheeler Jr.

A man robbed a gas station in Paso Robles Sunday and then turned himself into police in Fresno on Monday.

Charles Donald Wheeler Jr., of Paso Robles, robbed Eagle Energy Gas Station at 2400 Golden Hills Road without using a weapon and rode away on a Harley Davidson style motorcycle, Paso Robles police said. Wheeler, 51, took money from the register while a cashier was on duty around 10:20 a.m. Sunday. No injuries occurred.

Wheeler robbed the gas station while wearing blue jeans and a red shirt, as well as a black rag covering his head and a pair of dark sunglasses.

On Monday, Wheeler surrendered himself to the Fresno Police Department. Paso Robles detectives drove to Fresno early Monday afternoon to return Wheeler to San Luis Obispo County and book him in jail on one count of robbery.

Yea I remember my last moment of weakness that I went out on a lark and decided to rob a convience store. NOT!

I have ZERO sympathy for him. Gun or not it is still nerve wracking to be robbed. Commit him to community service of doing something for the clerk that had to deal with this moron. Make him have to look into the eye of his victim for a few days.

Running into a gas pump accidentally and then leaving without reporting it or dealing with the consequences could be considered a mistake followed by an error in judgment. Those kinds of circumstances could get me to cut some slack in punishment — especially if the offender was young enough to be considered less than fully mature.

This guy looks like he is as mature as he is going to get. Robbing a store, weapon or not, is not a simple mistake. At best, intoxication could be partly responsible for his lack of judgment but he should be old enough to avoid dumb actions due to intoxication. While I am glad that he didn’t do worse, he needs to face up to the consequences for his acts and pay the same price as anyone else. The only benefit he should get from turning himself in is not having extra frivolous charges thrown at him as a bargaining tactic.